Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 59

Cycling and Motor Notes

BY DEMON.

■ A preliminary trial .of the Smith pa!- 'itomobile wheel took place on Friiiiooii. As previously reported, this is a Roxburgh invention, devised to'provide the necessary resiliency by means of springs, and, in view of the recent boom in rubber, it is evident that any device which will effectually take the place of the pneumatic rubber tyre will command attention. Friday's trial is said to have been very satisfactory, and a more extended trial will be made shortly to further demonstrate the efficiency of the invention. Messrs Cooke, Howlison and Co. have landed, per Spithead, a Buick Model F, to the oixiar of Mr R. Rutherford. The car is fitted with the 16 h.p. engine, double opposed cylinu- ■&,, dual ignition, and detachable rims. Judging from the increasing number of owners of these cars, they are evidently becoming very popular. Mr Graves (Oamaru) was in Dunedin last week with hie 16 Enfield, which appears to be running "as silently as ever. —— Messrs E. Howlison and J. Gray had a very successful run through Otago Central, via Lawrence and Roxburgh, last week, returning by Naseby and Palmerston. Mr Howlison rode a Norton and Mr Gray a single-speed Humber. The suggestion has been made in England that on the occasion of the world's cycling trade championship, to be held in London in 1911, a road championship event should be organised to decide the road championship of the world. The idea has found favour in English cycling circles. and although road racing is illegal in England, an effort will probably be made to get special permission to hold such a contest; failing which the race would more than likely be held in the Isle of Man, the scene of many fire motor contests for the Tourists' Trophy. Leon Meredith (England), •ve times winner of the world's longdistance amateur track championship, when interviewed on the subject, stated that he thought the idea a splendid one. He suggests that to obviate competitors being thrown out of the race through either machine or tyre troubles, a fast motor car be allotted to each two or three competitors for the purpose of carrying spare machines, etc. The probabilities that the race, if held, would be unpaced.' Should the English authorities succeed in getting such an event launched and made part of the annual world's cycle championship programme, the event would be one of particular interest to Australasian road riders, for there is little doubt but that arrangements would be made to ensure this country being- suitably represented. In Australia and New Zealand we have some of the finest road riders in the world (their performances in the great Dunlop road race from Warrnambool to Melbourne have demonstrated that), and such an event as proposed would provide an excellent opportunity of seeing what our crack riders are capable of when pitted against the world's best. At a meeting: of the North Canterbury Centre of the League of New Zealand Wheelmen, Mr J. Burgess presiding, an inquiry was held into the action of M. M'Teague and F. H. Osborne in entering a protest against A. Birch, who took part in the 35-mile road race on February 12. A iter considering the evidence and hearing M'Teague and Osborne, the centre decided to disqualify them for five years on the ground that they h?' -nspired to secure Birch's disqualificatir- F,. H. Jones, who gave evidence on the matter before the stewards, was 'severely reprimanded for his I

i action. F. H. Osborne, who had submitted a series of incorrect and incomplete entries, was disqualified for 12 months and fined 1 LI, and also disqualified for the 50-mile road race. . A well-reasoned article an the Financial Times (London) shows that the world’s output of rubber for last year was 70,000 tons, as compared with 65,000 tons in 1908, 69,000 tons in 1907, and 65,000 tons in 1906. Tire prospects of the existing and new estates have been considered, and allowances made for the failure of some of the more recent experimental plantations, and it is then estimated that a yearly increase of 3000 tons may be expected, giving a total crop in 1920 from the new plantation companies of 34-,000 tons, and, as our contemporary wisely puts it, this would be an addition to the world’s supply which it would require a great expansion in consumption to absorb, whilst it certainly would not be marketable at anything like present prices. [Our contemporary overlooks the fact that a large number of the wild-growing rubber trees are annually destroyed in the effort to get the last ounce of rubber from them; consequently the supply is annually depreciated.] The recent great ride by E. A. Pearson from Sydney to Melbourne (577 miles j in 49 hours) was accomplished on a size ' of tyre that many speedmen would turn their noses up at. Pearson’s long experij enoc has proved to him that the best way j to obtain speed and comfort in long-dis-j tance work is to absorb vibration by using • tyres that carry plenty of air—a doctrine that the Dunlop Rubber Company has been preaching to road speedmen for years past. Pearson used l|in skin-sided plain-stripped road-racing Dunlops on l|in wires, a combination that afforded plenty of speed and ensured the minimum of vibration. Roadriders would do well to take a leaf out of Pearson’s book,’and use sensible-sized tyres —nothing smaller than or l|in covers on l|in wires. To all users of motor vehicles, the cost of tyres is one of the largest items. Hehice, it can naturally be understood that the continued increasing cost of rubber tyres has lately been commented upon by the majority of motorists. By latest cables we learn that the prime cost of rubber is now 12e per lb. A retrospect of five years since shows its cost at half a crown per lb. It is therefore apparent to the layman that the increasing cost to the manufacturer must in ; ts turn increase the cost to the consumer.' So rampant has cycle road-racing become in Germany that it is almost a menace to ordinary traffic, and the authorities have found it necessary to impose restrictions. Special permission must now be obtained before any event can be decided on the highways. In England road racing is illegal. Short events (under 50 miles) were its undoing. Rumours are current to the effect that. the large number of motor cabs in London is to be further augmented by a line of electric cabs. These are to be furnished with a new accumulator, known as the “Elbacar.” * - There will shortly be a fine bunch of Australians in Yankeeland, consisting of E. A. Rye, W. Palmer, Hehir, Walker, Goullett, Kett, Keefe, and possibly Clarke, who is now racing ‘on the Continent. The climate agrees with the Australians, who all seem to improve with racing there. The motor has been used for most purposes both as regards pleasure and commercial vehicles. Up-country it has also been requisitioned instead of horses for threshing, churning, and other useful purposes. The latest use to which the petroprdpelling engine has been put has been in connection with hearses. Quite recently in Coventry an enterprising firm ordered a motor hearse, which, according to reports, is proving most popular. The new vehicle is silent. It can travel at a walking pace, and take stiff gradients without making any excessive noise when the changing of gear is necessary. The demand for the new conveyance has been unprecedented. When a run-down battery refuses to produce an efficient spark, the engine may sometimes be made to fire sufficiently well to take the car a few miles by vibrating the tremblers by hand. It is advisable to let someone else steer whilst the driver is manipulating the tremblers. Jr during, when it is found necessary to fen reams, an effective way to prevent water passing through the radiator is to reverse the direction in which the fan revolves, either by crossing the belt or other means. This will cause a sufficiently strong draught to keep the water out. This method should not be used except in emergency, as the strong suck of the reversed fan tends to draw the engine towards, the radiator, and so throw the whole machine out of gear. 1 “Man’s most faithful servant formany hundreds of years is about to be displaced. 'The horse has had his day. The petrol motor not only hopelessly defeats him for speed, but also for economy. This nrophecy was first made more than 10 years ago, and it appe. ns to-day that comparatively little has been accomplished towards its fulfilment. The great reason for the delay, however, has been that the petrol motor, as applied to transportation and hauling, was 10 years ago a new thing, and the last decade has been devoted to its perfection. Again, the enormous demand for motor-propelled vehicles has kept prices up to a point where they were, to some extent at least, a luxury. Now,' however, the motor is perfected, and enormous plants have been established not only capable of supplying almost any demands made upon them, but ambitious to extend further their present tremendous production. It is expected that the 1910 production of motor vehicles in the United States alone will exceed 150,000. It is very safe to predict i that there will in the next decade be j literally millions of these vehicles on the i market.”—Exchange. 1 The Victorian rider, A. J. Clarke. has signed a contract with a Continental cycle firm to use its machine during the j

coming summer. By contract he will bo obliged to participate in the Grand Prix de Paris and the world's championship. A curious motor ambulance for doga is to be seen in the West End of London.This ambulance is the property of the Animals' Hospital, and is used for conveying dogs to and fro. It resembles a Noah'a Ark in shape, and is drawn by a 3 h.p. motor cycle, to which it is attached bv means of an ingenious coupling device, which prevents the ambulance overturning when travelling around corners. The ambulance is mounted on easy springs, is fitted with pneumatic tyres, and is well padded inside in order to minimise vibration. Being motor-drawn, it can do long, journeys expeditiously, and ailing animals can be conveyed to the hospital and treated without delay. Mr E. P. M'Loughun writes as follows in the Motor: —"About six months ago I found my rims and tubes covered with rust; I cleaned the former well with sandpaper and removed every trace of rust. I then treated the rims with two coats of red lead paint, and allowed it to well dry and harden. I have now removed the tyres, and there •is no rust whatever on the rims, tubes, and beading, and this after a hard winter's work on wet roads. It is absolutely imeoejssary that the "red. lead should be of the best quality and mixed with boiled oil and stirred occasionally for a few weeks before being used. Then a little varnish and a small quantity "of turpentine added, and it is ready for use. The, metal to which it is applied should be as clean as possible. I have used red lead paint as above on the iron floors of my yacht, and, though exposed to the rusting effects of sea water, at the end of 12 months T have found them quite free from rust. This is a severe test of its durability and rust-pre-venting qualities." . Motorists are often puzzled by the appearance of "knots" on their tyres. • The "knots." which are often in diameter, are known in the trade as blisters. They are caused originally from cracks in the tyre thread. They are filled with sand and air and should be punctured with a peaknife. The tyre should then be immediately forwarded to some vulcanising plant where it can be repaired. These blisters are such indications of blow-outs. Knots of this nature develop very rapidly, cases having been Known where when a car started off in the morning the blister was no larger than a bean, but by noon it was as big as an orange. The blisters are caused by the air _a.nd sand working in. between the outer layer of fabric and the rubber covering of the tyre. . me (says a Melbourne writer) regarding tha sizes of motor wheels and tyres is that, within narrow limits comparatively, the majority of cars, no matter what their size and horse power, have wheels of nearly the same diameter, although • the sizes of the tyres vary considerably. It would not be out of place, seeing' that a 6 or 8 h.p. car has 2Sin or 30in wheels, for a large 40 h.p. car to have wheels of 40in In dia*meter or thereabouts. Naturally the bigger carhas superior pace, and a larger wheel would afford easier running, because its larger diameter would bridge many depressions in the road surface, where, on the other hand, a smaller sized wheel would drop into them with a resultant bump. With a. smaller car this bumping and jolting would not be so pronounced, since the pace could not be so rapid as with the more powerful ear. The increase in the size of the wheels with, the size and power of the ear should also simplify the matter of tyring the wheels since, say, a 4in tyre on a 40ir# wheel of a 40 h.p. car should give as good result* as a 4in tyre on a 30in wheel of a 10 or 15 h.p. ear. Another point in favour of higner wheels for larger and faster can is that they allow of much greater ground clearance—a desirable feature. From Manchester: "It is shown to be possible to select a laundaulet of good repute and new design, finished in the best style, and fitted with electric cigar-lighters, flower-holders, and other luxurious fittings, for £6oo' The problem is solved, says S sl ' 1 Ta > a £6o ° kmdaulet, knock off jboou _ worth of "flower-holders and other i^ noas fittlß ?s," and there you have your x-100 car. -A very ingenious and useful fitment" has been brougnt out bv Messrs Auster *• iY» Bl ™ In » lBD1 . "the back snield. It is designed to protect the occuyants of the back seats of an open car from the wind, and to a considerable extent, from the rain. Three panels of glass are mounted ;n an ingenious manner in front of the passengers, and thus shut off the wind and driving rain, whilst affording a clear view ahead. Such a fitment removes the necessity of wearing goggles, and at the same time one can have all the exhilaration of travelling in an open car. When not required the shield can be instantly folded away. --—A photograph of an extraordinary car for use in India appeared recently in, the London illustrated oapers and in* the motor journals. The usual body is replaced by a huge shape representing a swan. The bo n „et of the car was fashioned in the shape of a swan's body, and the long neck and head surmounted it. The exlhai,<rfc HlSiii.2 tte °*'' ,s bui "«» °«kvr £ fartnei- was ordered to nav 23= if oanfter° U sT\ for liadl hi! f Slashln §->s hedge. A cyclist bad his tyres punctured by the thorns. UNLIGHTED LOOSE ROAD METAL. One of the most serious dangers to which cyclists are exposed is coming suddenly at nigut on patches of unrolled road metal which have been left unlighted. Until recent years English local autho-

cities were very lax- oa this point. Other'' 'traffic usually survived the crdeal. its driver* and occupants sustaining nothing worse than a pained surprise and a severe shaking- generally followed by the calling down of h*nisons_ on the head of the surveyor. But with cycnsts at is different. Serious accidents have resulted from leaving loose metal two or three inches deep without warning at night, and road authorities are gradually being brought to realise that they owe a duty to cyclists. The*Cyclists' Touring Club, which has done so much for wheelmen in tih.is has just won a case for a member. He and a friend' while riding a tandem one night were thrown heavily through coming upon a patch of loose stones In the Epsom Rural District. Both ■were injured, and the machine damaged. But the council of that ilk repudiated liability, and pleaded that it was the "local custom" not to light unrolled metal. Judge Harrington, however, gave £5 damages and cost* against it. H<- put aside the council's plea, takina; the larger view that the road was not left in a reasonably safe conditior for cyclists, and having regard to the fact —which some people appear to forget—that cyclists have as much right to consideration at the hands of road-makers and users as any other class of traffic Another case taken up by the C.T.C. a yeai or two ago_ at Pontefract shows how differently County Court judges view this question. A member of the club passed along a road one day. It was then in its norma) state. As he returned that night. he dashed into a patch of unlighted metal, laid down the morning, and he and his machine were badly damaged. You could not have had a clearer case than ;his. .Yet the judge stopped it on the good old plea of "loea' custom," declaring that cyclists ought to look after their own nafety. If the rider had seen the unrolled metal as he passed earlier in the day. there might have been some shadow of an excuse for the judge, but under the circumstances tsays a Home paper) his decision was absolutely unwarrantable.